“Let’s go to Spain!” Many of us have said it, often with hopes of conducting a winter migration to a warmer, sunnier corner of the world. However, heading south in winter is not a modern notion. Did you know Europeans traveled to the Iberian Peninsula more than 20,000 years ago?
The first communities of hunter-gatherers moved out of Africa and into Europe at least 45,000 years ago. In an article published in Nature.com, DNA-researchers found hunter-gatherers not only traveled to, but settled down and dwelled for millennia in what are now Spanish and French lands during the last ice age.
A sample of DNA, dating from approximately 35,000 years ago, was extracted from remains discovered in the Goyet cave system in Belgium. While genetic sequencing provided new insights into early human DNA, it offered up a new mystery as well.
DNA signatures, present in the Goyet cave discoveries, were absent in the DNA of other remains dating from just prior to and during the “peak” of the last ice age. The markers disappear, and reappear with a 20,000-year gap.
As scientists sequenced and re-examined genomes from other hunter-gatherers (mostly dating back 35,000 to 5,000 years in addition to some pre-ice-age individuals) the signatures reappeared. In the remains of pre-ice-age individuals, found in modern day France and Spain a direct “genetic link” to the Goyet cave discoveries emerged.
Where did they go? The “Goyet DNA signatures” found in early cave-dwelling humans, disappeared only to reappear in later hunter gatherer cultures, possibly indicating that these early humans had moved away from their original settlements, and returned only towards the end of the last ice age.
However, they may not have left Europe. Researchers identified the same “Goyet signatures” in remains found in Northern Spain and Southern France, indicating that many early humans may have left for the more hospitable regions on the Iberian Peninsula when the climate turned less hospitable further north on the European continent.
While not the only refuge during the ice-age, it seems to have been one of the more successful. As the ice withdrew, and the climate warmed, many of these early Iberians would leave their adopted homelands and begin to repopulate Europe. With their migration patterns in mind, many of us might share some “Iberian genes.”
(Source: Image Sunset by Alain Audet from Pixabay)
While a few months of winter may not be an ice-age, riding out the cold in Spain has a long history. Whether it’s an “Iberian gene” or just a longing for warmer climates, it won’t be the last time we say “let’s go to Spain”.
You can read the full article on Nature.com here.
Featured image: Winter by tbasien from Pixabay.
We at Find Your Spain publish in-house written articles and provide links to content from other sources which we hope you will find useful, interesting, and informative. Got a tip for us? Drop us a line, comment on a post.
If you enjoyed this article please like us on Facebook, Twitter or subscribe at FindYourSpain.com. It’s free. And, share our sites with friends and family.
